Scenic, Washington

Smoky exhaust from the previous train is blown out of the Cascade Tunnel by the fans on the other end at Berne, eight miles away. This is the reason why Great Northern originally electrified the line.
Feb. 16, 2008.

Looking east from Scenic, WA, with the Highway 2 bridge and Cascade Tunnel west portal beyond. Feb. 16, 2008.

High above Scenic is Windy Point and the snowsheds of the pre-1929 line. The old roadbed is now part of the Iron Horse Trail. Feb. 16, 2008.

BNSF 4414 East waits its turn to use the tunnel. Don't they run anything but double stacks on this line?. Feb. 16, 2008.

That pair of ex-BN SD40-2's that we saw at Skykomish clears the tunnel on its way back from Merritt. Looks like they ran around that flatcar, but still no bulldozer. Feb. 16, 2008.

The bright headlight belongs to Amtrak's Empire Builder, which has been patiently waiting for this slow autorack to get free of the tunnel. Feb. 16, 2008.